But Stein, an uncommitted superdelegate from Ithaca, said that doesn't mean she's going to try to help the senator from New York capture the Democratic presidential nomination.

One of three uncommitted superdelegates representing this state, Stein is under increasing pressure to pick either Obama, the Democratic front-runner, or Clinton, and help end the closest Democratic presidential primary in decades.

After last week's primary elections in Kentucky and Oregon, Obama had 1971 delegates, just 55 short of the 2,026 needed to clinch, according to The Associated Press on Saturday. Clinton had 1,780 delegates.

Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona have telephoned Stein to urge her to support Obama.

Strangers are stopping Stein on Ithaca street corners to argue that Clinton or Obama is the better choice.

She receives dozens of unsolicited e-mails each day from the candidates' supporters.

About a month ago, Clinton left a message on Stein's answering machine, saying she understands it is a tough decision and that she hoped to talk to Stein soon.

"I think very highly of both these candidates," Stein said.

Well, who is she leaning toward?

Clinton or Obama?

That's a secret Stein, 77, is not ready to reveal, not even to her grandchildren, she said.

"I keep my husband informed of my thought process daily. And he's getting sick of it," she laughed. "In my own mind, if I had had to vote, at various times so far, I would have changed my mind back and forth. I'll go that far."

"I have a mixed family. My daughter and her husband are for Hillary. My son and his wife and his children are for Barack Obama."

Stein is one of 795 Democratic superdelegates -- primarily party officials and elected Democrats -- who will have a big say in deciding whether Clinton or Obama will run against presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

Forty-five of New York's 49 superdelegates have announced they support Clinton; one has sided with Obama.

But Tompkins County -- where Stein has been the county Democratic committee chair for 21 years -- was the only county that Obama won in the New York primary in February.

That has made Stein's decision tougher.

"The question is, which of the two will be stronger against McCain? That's what will guide my decision," Stein said.

She said she will consider the wishes of Tompkins County voters, voters across the state, the remaining primary votes, and results of exit polls, but in the end will rely on her own best judgment.

"I would love to have a woman president. But that would not be my reason for supporting her. I would also love to have a person of color as president. But that would not be my reason for supporting him.

"It's a very hard decision. But I don't stay up at night thinking about it because I think both candidates would make excellent presidents," she said.

The last primary elections are June 3 in Montana and South Dakota.

Stein volunteered that she doesn't think Clinton should withdraw from the race, though her chances of victory seem slim.

"I do think that Hillary is right in finishing the process. I think it's only fair to the voters in the remaining states with primaries, and to her supporters," she said.

Stein; George Mitchell, the former Maine senator who served s Senate Majority Leader; and Ralph Dawson, a Manhattan labor lawyer and college roommate of Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, are the last uncommitted superdelegates representing New York.

Dean wants the approximately 170 uncommitted Democratic superdelegates to commit to a candidate by the end of June so that the party can pick its nominee and have four months to unify and prepare for the general election.

But Stein won't commit to committing by then.

"When I think I have all the information, and I'm not going to learn anything more that is relevant, I'll make my decision," she said. "I'm going to wait until the whole process is over, and then I'll decide."

Stein isn't required to back a candidate until the Democratic Party's convention, which begins Aug. 25 in Denver. She said she hopes Obama or Clinton secures the nomination before then.

This isn't the first time Stein will help pick a presidential nominee.

She's attended three Democratic National Conventions, in 1992, 2000 and 2004. The last two times she was a superdelegate -- without even realizing it, she said.

"I never heard the term before this race, because, well, there wasn't any reason," she said.

But 2008 is different, and Stein said she has never received so much attention -- from candidates, their supporters, the public or the media.

The major TV networks want to know whom she backs. She's been interviewed by the New York Daily News as well as newspapers in Ithaca, Albany and Buffalo. A correspondent representing newspapers in the Netherlands called.

"Mostly, I don't want to be interviewed because I feel I have nothing to say because I'm uncommitted," she said.

She also admits she's fearful that she'll slip and say something that would reveal her sentiments.

It's pretty unsettling for this Ithaca bookworm.

Stein grew up in Boston, the daughter of poor immigrant parents who were steeped in patriotism and Democratic politics.

"My father used to have a shot of whiskey before dinner every night, and he would say, 'Down with the communists,' " Stein said.

For 51 years, she's been married to Cornell University physics professor Peter Stein, who is secretary of the state Democratic Party and an Ithaca town board member.

Stein earned a doctorate from Cornell herself while raising three children. She worked as director of the Tompkins County Office for Aging for 13 years before retiring.

For the last three decades, she has been helping mayors, city councilors, governors and senators get elected.

Stein's success in getting Democrats elected in Tompkins County prompted Judith Hope, then the state Democratic Party chair, to ask Stein to run for election to the Democratic National Committee about a dozen years ago. All DNC members automatically are superdelegates.

In 2004, Stein was on the floor at the Democratic convention in Boston when Obama delivered the keynote address and burst into the national spotlight.

"The kind of thing we're hearing (in this campaign) is similar to what I heard. He was very galvanizing. People immediately said, 'He has a future.'

"I've never met Barack Obama. But I would certainly like to," Stein said.

Stein is much more familiar with his opponent.

Then-first lady Clinton stayed overnight at the Steins' former home at 207 Ithaca Road in 1999 when Clinton was testing the waters for her first Senate campaign.

Stein said she was stunned when a Clinton worker called and asked if Stein would host Clinton overnight in their modest five-bedroom home.

"I said, 'My house? Well, you know she'll have to share a bathroom.' And the person laughed and said the first lady won't care about that at all," Stein said.

"The first thing that happened was 3 million Secret Service people came to visit and looked the house over," Stein recalled. Naturally, before Clinton arrived, Stein said she cleaned her house until it sparkled and purchased every fresh fruit being sold at the local farmers market.

"Her staff told me in advance, 'Eat in the kitchen; don't eat in the dining room. We don't want a fancy breakfast. Hillary mostly will just have tea and toast. Don't make a fancy breakfast.' So I didn't."

"She's very down to earth, very easy to talk to, not self-centered," Stein said of Clinton.

Over breakfast, Clinton mentioned that President Clinton had called the house during the night. "I said, 'What? The president of the United States called my house?' She laughed and said yes," Stein said.

At the kitchen table, Clinton and Stein's husband got into an intense debate about Clinton's health care plan, Stein said.

"They didn't agree about some aspect of it. I had to leave before breakfast was over to set up an event at Cornell. So I left them arguing, the way you and I might argue it out," she said.

Since then, Stein has also had conversations with President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton.

That familiarity is one factor Stein will take into account as she decides whom to support.

"Because Clinton is the junior senator from New York, and because we have gotten to know her, and she has done such a fine job, it gives her some points in my mind," Stein said.

Stein paused and peered at her inquisitor as they sat surrounded by plants on her sun porch.

"I think I have to stop talking soon because you're going to wear me down," she said.